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Health and Quality of Life Outcomes
Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 1/2020

Open Access 01-12-2020 | Research

Well-being is more than happiness and life satisfaction: a multidimensional analysis of 21 countries

Authors: Kai Ruggeri, Eduardo Garcia-Garzon, Áine Maguire, Sandra Matz, Felicia A. Huppert

Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes | Issue 1/2020

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Abstract

Background

Recent trends on measurement of well-being have elevated the scientific standards and rigor associated with approaches for national and international comparisons of well-being. One major theme in this has been the shift toward multidimensional approaches over reliance on traditional metrics such as single measures (e.g. happiness, life satisfaction) or economic proxies (e.g. GDP).

Methods

To produce a cohesive, multidimensional measure of well-being useful for providing meaningful insights for policy, we use data from 2006 and 2012 from the European Social Survey (ESS) to analyze well-being for 21 countries, involving approximately 40,000 individuals for each year. We refer collectively to the items used in the survey as multidimensional psychological well-being (MPWB).

Results

The ten dimensions assessed are used to compute a single value standardized to the population, which supports broad assessment and comparison. It also increases the possibility of exploring individual dimensions of well-being useful for targeting interventions. Insights demonstrate what may be masked when limiting to single dimensions, which can create a failure to identify levers for policy interventions.

Conclusions

We conclude that both the composite score and individual dimensions from this approach constitute valuable levels of analyses for exploring appropriate policies to protect and improve well-being.
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Metadata
Title
Well-being is more than happiness and life satisfaction: a multidimensional analysis of 21 countries
Authors
Kai Ruggeri
Eduardo Garcia-Garzon
Áine Maguire
Sandra Matz
Felicia A. Huppert
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1477-7525
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12955-020-01423-y

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